Nihongo-a-Go-Go :: Mandy's Journal

Meiji Mura

Well...we finally made it to the last around-Nagoya attraction that we're really interested in, Meiji Mura. Meiji Mura is a sort of...collection of buildings. The grounds are huge, and have over 60 buildings from the Meiji era (1867-1920, I think). The Meiji era is really interesting because it was at this time that Japanese culture came in contact with Western culture, and was highly influenced by it. One of the clearest displays of this was in the architecture. This guy in the sixties realized that the architecture of the era was very unique and wanted to preserve it. So he had all sorts of buildings-houses, churches, train stations, hospitals, hotels-transported to Aichi and reassembled. Fascinating, really.

Meiji Mura is out past Inuyama, to the north of Nagoya, and took us almost an hour to get there, via train and bus. We got a special discount ticket package, that cost each of us twenty bucks for transport both ways and the entry ticket. Not too shabby!

I took a bunch of pics, though the day was very bright and a lot of them ended up overexposed. But here's a sampling. I'll try to give some details as well. :)

First batch:

The first two are from a school. The little desks were so tiny, and the thing that seemed most Western about it, for some reason, were the windows. I loved the sound of walking on those old wooden floorboards. The blackboard was actually wood painted with some black substance...I don't know what it was. The next picture if from an institute that studied bacteriology. There was a whole room full of antique microscopes. Wooo...heheh.

The first two here are from a house that was owned by two different writers. The most famous was the one who wrote "I am a Cat." I loved all the tatami rooms in here, and the sunken kitchen. I am also such a huge fan of those narrow little porches that are always highlighted in anime like "Rurouni Kenshin." The last one is an Episcopal church. It was interesting, because the I'm not sure what the first floor was used for, but the actual chapel was on the second floor.

The first picture in this batch is a theatre, which was actually built in a slightly older style, though it was built in the Meiji era. They actually have plays going on, which the actors heartily encouraged us to attend. Unfortunately, without going to the play, we couldn't get inside. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. And the plays performed were modern ones, sort of vaudeville-styled parody of the Meiji era. If I understood Japanese, we would have been there. :) The second picture is the crown jewel of Meiji Mura, a Frank Lloyd Wright house. It's beautiful, so airy inside, with detailed pillars all around that are lit from within. There are some non-Japanese buildings on the grounds, but they were all built within the timespan of the era.

And the last pictures I'll leave you with are from the Red Cross Hospice. A hospital room, with all the cots and little writing desks...and a birthing chair. *shudder* Sweet dreams! :)

Posted by Mandy at August 13, 2005 12:13 AM